Saturday, October 16, 2004

Shamelessly stolen from blogging Brightonian Bedsit Bomber, this list of dead rock stars makes for fascinating if morbid reading. There must be some they've missed, but I can't think who, apart from all the Ramones bar Joey. They have Malcolm Owen, both Pretenders, Sandy Denny, Nico etc, though I'm not sure Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was ever a rock musician.

I'm sorry to see Van McCoy had a heart attack - must have been doing the Hustle too much.

Six online journalists and webloggers have been arrested in Iran recently in a crackdown on dissent on the internet.
"People charged for having illegal internet sites... will be put on trial soon," said a judiciary spokesman.

The trials would be "open" and charges included "acting against national security, disturbing the public mind and insulting sanctities".

My wife (who's Japanese) and I travelled round the UK on various occasions. Each time, we suffered racist reactions from certain people. Whilst most people were welcoming, friendly and interested in my wife and her culture, there were others who were rude, insulting, and obnoxious. Some people did not say anything, but simply got up and moved away to other tables in cafes.

Others would mutter under their breath about WWII, and some would make remarks (to each other, not to our faces, but loud enough to be overheard) about "nips" and "chinkies". We were refused service in one pub in Canterbury. All of these negative reactions came from people aged around 60 or over, and all of the positive reactions came from younger people. I was appalled and deeply ashamed of my country, and I can't wait for these attitudes to die along with the people who hold them.

Rob, London, UK

Funnily enough, sixty years ago the Japanese felt the same as Rob does about Brits of that generation. So they gave them a hand with the dying process. As they did to Chinese. And Koreans. And Filipinos.

It's open season on sick children. Following the Charlotte Wyatt ruling, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, previously famed for its extensive body parts collection, innovative nursing ethics, and a collection of dead infants reminiscent of Saddam Hussein's allotment, have gone to court because they want to let seriously ill baby Luke Winston-Jones die if he gets any worse. The baby's parents aren't too happy about this. And as in the Charlotte Wyatt case, a new phrase is introduced to the language - 'aggressive treatment'. From what I gather, 'aggressive treatment' is treatment that hurts, though it may save or prolong life. But to the modern ear it sounds awful, doesn't it ? No one wants to be aggressive, do they now ?

At this rate the NHS will soon be able to abandon treatment altogether. After all, we're all going to die some day. Why prolong the stay ?